Denis Johnson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Denis Johnson
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| Born | Denis Hale Johnson July 1, 1949 Munich, West Germany |
| Died | May 24, 2017 (aged 67) Gualala, California, US |
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| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1969–2017 |
| Genre | Fiction, nonfiction |
| Notable works | Angels Jesus' Son Train Dreams Tree of Smoke |
| Notable awards | National Book Award; National Poetry Series award |
Denis Hale Johnson (born July 1, 1949 – died May 24, 2017) was an American writer. He wrote novels, short stories, and poetry. He is most famous for his collection of short stories called Jesus' Son (published in 1992). His novel Tree of Smoke (2007) won a major award, the National Book Award for Fiction. Johnson was also considered for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice. He wrote many books, including nine novels, a novella, two short story collections, three poetry books, two play collections, and one non-fiction book. His last book, The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, came out after he passed away in 2018.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Denis Johnson was born on July 1, 1949, in Munich, which was then West Germany. As he grew up, he lived in different places like the Philippines, Japan, and near Washington, D.C.. His father, Alfred Johnson, worked for the government, helping connect different U.S. agencies. His mother, Vera Louise Childress, took care of their home.
Johnson studied English at the University of Iowa, earning his first degree in 1971. He then got a master's degree in writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1974. He even returned to teach there later. While at the workshop, he learned from famous writer Raymond Carver.
His Writing Career
Johnson published his first book, a poetry collection called The Man Among Seals, when he was only 19 years old in 1969. He became more well-known when his first novel, Angels, was published in 1983.
Famous Works
He gained a lot of attention in 1992 with his short story collection Jesus' Son. Some of these stories first appeared in The New Yorker magazine. They were inspired by Isaac Babel’s book Red Cavalry. The first story, "Car Crash While Hitchhiking", was published in The Paris Review. In 2006, a poll by New York Times Book Review named Jesus' Son one of the best American fiction works of the past 25 years. Many people called it a classic and a masterpiece. It was even made into a movie in 1999, starring Billy Crudup.
The Stars at Noon (1986) is a spy thriller. It tells the story of an American woman during the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1984. This book was also made into a movie in 2022 by director Claire Denis.
His novel Tree of Smoke won the 2007 National Book Award for Fiction. It was also a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The story takes place during the Vietnam War from 1963 to 1970, with a part set in 1983. In this novel, readers learn more about Bill Houston, a character from Johnson’s first novel, Angels.
Train Dreams was first a short story in The Paris Review in 2002. It was then published as a novella (a short novel) in 2011. It was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. However, that year, the Pulitzer board decided not to give an award for fiction.
Other Creative Works
Johnson's plays were performed in cities like San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Seattle. He was a special writer for Campo Santo, a theater company in San Francisco. He also taught creative writing at Texas State University and the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin.
The last novel he published while he was alive was The Laughing Monsters in 2014. He called it a "literary thriller" set in Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Congo. His very last book, The Largesse of the Sea Maiden, a collection of short stories, was published after his death in January 2018.
Personal Life
Denis Johnson was married three times. He lived with his third wife, Cindy Lee, in Phoenix, Arizona, when he passed away. They also had a home in Idaho. Johnson had three children. He even homeschooled two of them. In 1997, he wrote an article for the website Salon explaining why he supported homeschooling.
In one of his essays, "Bikers for Jesus," Johnson said he was a Christian convert.
His Death
Denis Johnson passed away on May 24, 2017. He died from liver cancer at his home in The Sea Ranch, a community near Gualala, California. He was 67 years old.
Awards and Recognition
- 1981 – National Poetry Series award for The Incognito Lounge
- 1986 – Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1986 – Whiting Award
- 1993 – Lannan Fellowship in Fiction
- 2002 – Aga Khan Prize for Fiction from The Paris Review for Train Dreams
- 2007 – National Book Award for Tree of Smoke
- 2008 – Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Tree of Smoke
- 2012 – Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Train Dreams
- 2017 – Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (awarded after his death)
List of Works
Novels
- Angels (1983) ISBN: 9780394532257
- Fiskadoro (1985) ISBN: 9780394538396
- The Stars at Noon (1986) ISBN: 9780394538402
- Already Dead: A California Gothic (1997) ISBN: 978-0060187378
- The Name of the World (2000) ISBN: 9780060192488
- Tree of Smoke (2007) ISBN: 9780330449205
- Nobody Move (2009)
- Train Dreams (2011) – a novella first published in The Paris Review (2002)
- The Laughing Monsters (2014) ISBN: 9780374280598
Short Stories
Poetry Collections
- The Man Among the Seals: Poems (1969) ISBN: 9780887486272
- Inner Weather (1976) ISBN: 0394523474
- The Incognito Lounge and Other Poems (1982) ISBN: 0394523474
- The Veil (1987) ISBN: 0394743431
- The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly: Poems Collected and New (1995) ISBN: 9780060926960
Plays
- Hellhound on My Trail: A Drama in Three Parts (2000)
- Shoppers: Two Plays (2002) ISBN: 9780060934408 – includes Hellhound on My Trail
- Des Moines (San Francisco premiere in 2007, New York premiere in 2022)
Screenplays
- The Prom (1990)
- Hit Me (1996)
Non-fiction
- Seek: Reports from the Edges of America & Beyond (essays) (2001) ISBN: 9780060187361
See also
In Spanish: Denis Johnson para niños
